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Date: 10/30/2023
The frightful festivities of Halloween always generate a lot of excitement for children and adults alike. Now that I am an adult, I find myself looking forward to the post-Halloween period the most.
After purchasing enough candy to feed an army of trick-or-treaters, there always sits a sizable bowl of candy leftovers for me to feast on. I spend these blissful post-Halloween days in a constant sugar rush, rummaging through the bowl for every piece of candy I can get my hands on.
From my vast candy-eating experiences (if you do not believe me, just ask my dentist!), I have settled on a list of my favorite and least favorite Halloween candy. Like any list defined by one person’s opinion, there will undoubtedly be some controversy with my selections, so feel free to reach out to us to share your favorites and least favorites!
I also want to throw a special shoutout to all the households that hand out king-size candy bars on Halloween. Few sights bring as much joy to kids as seeing a larger-than-life candy bar land in their Halloween bags. You are the real MVPs of Halloween.
The Best Halloween Candy
Honorable mentions: Hershey’s Chocolate, Sour Patch Kids, M&M’s, Pretzel M&M’s, Starbursts.
3. Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups
Peanut butter and chocolate represent a perfect marriage of salty and decadent flavors. This dynamic is best exhibited in Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups. Every bite is perfection, from the chocolate exterior encrusting the cups’ circular shape to the dynamic blend of peanut butter and chocolate resting in the cups’ center. My ultimate advice for Reese’s fans – throw some of your Reese’s in a freezer for a day or two to discover the best possible form for eating these sinful treats.
2. Airheads
Imagine a traditional taffy juiced up with heapings of more sugar. That is the exact promise that Airheads delivers. From the sweet tang of a red Airhead to the bizarre yet addicting taste of a mystery Airhead, the varied flavors pack a pungent punch of sugary, artificial fruit goodness. My go-to Airhead hack is stacking two Airhead types on one another and then twisting them together. This is admittedly not the healthiest of decisions, but who does not deserve to cheat a little during the Halloween season?
1. Skittles
The favorite candy of Marshawn Lynch and I, Skittles lives by the moniker of “tasting the rainbow.” Thankfully, Skittles delivers on this promise in spades. The tart acidity of lemon, orange and lime matched up with the sweetness overload packed inside the strawberry and grape Skittles blends to form a flattering paring. I always engulf enormous handfuls at a time, so much so that my palms resemble a rainbow-colored mess every time I finish a bag.
The Worst Halloween Candy
3. Crunch
There are so many great chocolate bars, whether you enjoy Twix’s gooey caramel or the crunchy peanuts packed inside Snickers. Among this range of delicious offerings, Crunch exists in the most middling morass imaginable. This bland mixture of chocolate and crisped rice barely offers a crunch for snackers to even bite into. All a Crunch bar provides is regret that I am not eating another vastly superior candy.
2. Whoppers
Serious question — how are Whoppers still made? Does anyone actually like these? I remember as a kid that the bottom of my trick-or-treat bag would always be lined with these horrid malted chocolate balls. Desperate for one last sugar rush, I would always stumble upon eating one before remembering how devoid of flavor Whoppers are. There is nothing savory or compelling about these aggressively generic candies. Out of all the fantastic products Hershey makes, Whoppers represents the company’s Achilles heel.
1. Candy Corn
I get it; candy corn is a treasured Halloween staple for generations of families. To me, candy corn tastes ghastly, almost like burnt candle wax poorly masked by its distinctive shape and food coloring. I would honestly rather drink five Kale smoothies than subject myself to eating a handful of these so-called candies.